Vol. 12, No. 1, Winter 2010

Engaging Departments: Assessing Student Learning

This issue explores how departments are developing assessment approaches that deepen student learning. Recognizing that most faculty identify strongly with their discipline and that students are engaged in more complex and sophisticated practice of liberal learning as they complete their majors, the issue presents articles that advance integrative and engaged learning in and across disciplines. The features draw on sessions and presentations from AAC&U’s 2009 Engaging Departments Institute.

The Winter 2010 issue of Peer Review has sold out. Selected articles are available online (see below) and the full issue is available as a PDF.

CONTENTS:

From the Editor

Overview

The Engaging Departments Institute: Fostering Alignment of
Learning Outcomes across Departmental Majors
Ashley Finley, Association of American Colleges and Universities

Analysis

Engaging Departments in Assessing Student Learning: Overcoming Common Obstacles
Jo Michelle Beld, St. Olaf College

Practice

Mapping General Education Outcomes in the Major:
Intentionality and Transparency
Nuria M. Cuevas, Alexei G. Matveev, and Khadijah O. Miller, all of
Norfolk State University

Developing the Framework for Assessing a New Core Curriculum at Siena College
Ralph J. Blasting, Siena College

Promoting Change: Moving Toward a Culture of Assessment
Paul B. Duff, The George Washington University

Assessment Culture: From Ideal to Real—A Process of Tinkering
Pat Tinsley, Marylou Shockley, Patricia Whang, Paoze Thao, Becky Rosenberg, and Brian Simmons, all of California State University Monterey Bay

Pulling It All Together: Connecting Liberal Arts Outcomes with Departmental Goals through General Education
Carl James Grindley, Amanda Bernal-Carlo, Sarah Brennan, Patricia Frenz-Belkin, Richard Gampert, Isabel Li, Christine Mangino, Lucinda Zoe, all of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York

AAC&U Work on Assessment and Student Learning Outcomes

Reality Check

Assessing General Education Competencies within Academic Disciplines
Michael F. Middaugh, University of Delaware